Magic: The Gathering is a Trading Card Game that has existed since 1993 and as such is littered with different keywords which give players the ability to do some pretty fun stuff with their cards. One of those keywords is Scry and it’s a pretty good keyword, too. Not only does it help you see more of the cards in your deck, but it also helps you get rid of the cards you don’t want to see either.
When Did Scry Become A Keyword In Magic?
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Scry officially became part of Magic: The Gathering during its Mirrodin block, specifically in the set Fifth Dawn back in June 2004. Even though Scry is twenty years old, it still exists as a fairly popular keyword in the game with cards like Opt being consistently reprinted.
Scry was also part of Magic’s mulligan system at one point as well when it was called the ‘Vancouver mulligan’. For the Vancouver mulligan, if a player doesn’t like their hand, they can shuffle it back into their library, draw one less card, and then scry a number of times for each time they took a mulligan.
What Does Scry Mean/Do?
Scry is an ability that allows players to look at the top number of cards in their deck/library and if they don’t like those cards, can put them on the bottom of their deck. Usually, after scrying, the card then allows the player to draw a card or many cards depending on the mana value paid. Even just scrying one card and keeping it/bottoming it can be what decides if a player wins or loses their match.
While each color in Magic can scry, it’s an ability that favors blue-aligned cards most of all due to the color blue in Magic being about knowledge and intellect. Blue is also the best color in MTG because it means you get access to the most counterspells in Magic and can ruin other people’s fun. Counterspells that allow you to scry like Bane’s Contingency from the D&D EDH set are the best of both worlds.
Scry VS. Surveil
Another keyword that has been seeing more use lately, especially in Thunder Junction and Murders at Karlov Manor is Surveil. Surveil operates almost exactly like Scry as it allows you to look at the top however many cards of your deck/library and then get rid of them. The way it differs though and is strictly better than Scry is that it allows you to put the cards that were surveilled into your graveyard, instead of the bottom of your deck/library.
The reason surveil is strictly better is because it helps fuel graveyard synergies in decks. Not only can you dump the unwanted cards into your graveyard, but if the spell that was used to surveil was an instant or sorcery card, it also goes into your graveyard. Cards that use Delve such as Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Temporal Trespass, and Murktide Regent will then have an easier time being cast and can be cast earlier too.
Scry Card In Modern Gets Unbanned
Preordain, which was banned in Modern way back in 2011, was unbanned back in 2023. It was originally banned because it made blue-based combo decks too good and consistent. For a singular blue mana, you can Scry 2 and then draw a card which overall is pretty good. Funnily enough, right when it got unbanned, it went to being used in Izzet Gifts Storm which is a combo deck that eventually copies cards like Grapeshot and/or Empty the Warrens to win the game.
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